Draft pensions dashboards regulation published

Millions stand to benefit from being able to see all their pensions in one place, says interactive investor's head of pensions and savings.

The government has published a consultation on draft regulations for the pensions dashboards.

Among the key proposals, the regulations:

• will prioritise the connection of the largest pension schemes first, to “ensure that dashboards serve the greatest number of people as soon as possible”: large schemes will be connected between April 2023 – September 2024; medium schemes between October 2024 and October 2025 and small and micro schemes from 2026, although these will not be covered by the regulations
• recommend that information on State Pensions is included on dashboards from the beginning
• will allow other organisations who meet prescribed requirements to develop and host their own dashboards
• Will “tech-charge” the pensions industry, paving the way for future consolidation using dashboards: “an opportunity for engaged individuals to consider taking action to consolidate their deferred small pots”
• Lay out how individuals’ pension data will be protected.

Becky O’Connor, Head of Pensions and Savings at interactive investor, said: “Millions of pension savers stand to benefit from being able to see all their pensions in one place, so pensions dashboards are a really important initiative, with the potential to drive greater engagement and ultimately, bigger pension pots in retirement.

“Research shows that as the jobs market has become more mobile, even some younger workers in their 20s are saying they already have four or more pension pots behind them – you can easily see how some of these valuable pots of money could get lost in a lifetime of career and address moves.

“Note the pluralisation in these proposals – there will not just be one dashboard – but a number of dashboards from different providers. If the information is presented consistently, the number of dashboard providers shouldn’t be a problem for people accessing their pensions record. 

“But it’s important to avoid a situation where the same data can end up being presented differently, for example, variances in credit scores from different credit agencies, as this could lead to confusion. If all dashboard providers are using the same sources and following the same guidelines, this can hopefully be avoided.

“It’s interesting to see more of the thinking about whether dashboards could or should lead to greater consolidation. There’s clearly a case for this if people can save money or find a home for their pensions that better suits their retirement plan and the government acknowledges this, although it will not want dashboards to turn into a competition among providers from the get-go.”